By SEAN WHALEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
Cooperative Advocates Get Capitol Kick in the Arse
CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval said Tuesday he sees no need to intervene in an upcoming auction of 41 stray horses trapped by the state Department of Agriculture on private and state-owned lands near Virginia City.
Wild horse advocates fear that if the auction is allowed to go forward, some of the animals will end up in slaughterhouses.
“The Department of Agriculture is doing what it’s been required to do,” Sandoval said. “They rounded them up for public safety purposes. This has been a long-scheduled auction, and there is no reason to reschedule it.”
The auction was set for yesterday, in Fallon.
About 40 sign-carrying wild horse advocates marched Friday in front of the Legislative Building to induce Sandoval to block the auction. The protesters stopped at the governor’s office to deliver 2,000 signatures of people who want to end the auction.
Bonnie Matton, president of the Wild Horse Preservation League, said Friday the activists are willing to take the horses, feed them and find homes for them if Sandoval can induce the state Department of Agriculture to call off the auction and come up with a plan for the advocates to care for these horses.
‘appalled’
She expressed disappointment at Sandoval’s decision.
“I’m appalled, but I’m not surprised,” Matton said. “I’m very disappointed in our governor. There is no reason the (Nevada Department of Agriculture) should do this.”
In a late development, Jim Barbee, director of the Agriculture Department, said his agency had a “very positive meeting” Tuesday with wild horse advocates about what to do with future horses trapped for public safety reasons.
While nothing was finalized, the agency is looking at options to deliver the horses to the advocacy groups rather than to auction, he said. The auction will go forward, Barbee said.
preservation groups
Wild horse preservation groups from around the country have been collecting money to buy the horses and provide sanctuaries, and efforts will be made to buy the animals at the auction at Nevada Livestock Marketing, Matton said.
The animals can be bought for less than $100, but she said “shills” can sometimes drive the price up much higher.
Matton said she thinks another gather of as many as 60 stray horses will occur soon in northeastern Carson City, setting up the need for another auction.
“This is completely unnecessary and is costing taxpayers money,” Matton said. “They have never fully managed the herds.”
Unlike wild horses on federally managed lands, the horses are not protected by federal law. They are among the 2,500 horses found on private and state lands near Virginia City.
Dozens are killed each year in accidents with motor vehicles.
Under state law, they are referred to as “estray horses” that are owned by the state. There is no law preventing them from being sold for slaughter.
Deniz Bolbol, spokeswoman for the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, said Sandoval has received a huge response from the public in opposition to the practice of sending the stray horses to slaughter.
“This is an opportunity for the governor to reform the program and devise a humane management plan that will benefit the taxpayers of Nevada and wild horses,” she said.
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Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Darn, another low blow to the Horses , I read where there were 18,000 letters protesting this Auction, another low blow showing that NO Politician listen to reason, Some how some way we have got to stop this !!!!!! We spin our wheels for years , what ever happen to we the people?????????
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If there such a safety hazard then why is the state speed limit not enforced? Its a two way street. If it was a cow standing in the road you wouldn’t hit it would you? So why hit the horse if your speeding?
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Elizabeth, you are right ! I live out on the Virginia Range, Stage Coach, and when I come in to Sparks or go to Carson, people are driving like a bat out of hell ! When people are jogging, cars slow down, when I see a herd of horses near the road, I slow down, in Alaska, when the moose get in the road, they slow down !!! More deer get hit than horses ! I get sick and tired of hearing about the horses eating someones lawn or road apples in the yard , WHAT ARE FENCES FOR ???? I have a home in Oregon and have a small herd of deer that frequent the field in front of the house, I PUT UP A FENCE ! Seldome do the deer jump it…..We to can co-exist with the wildlife around us…oh by the way, the tunnel that was being built between Stage Coach and Carson appears to have been back filled !!!!!
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I’ll hold hope this goes well for the horses and rescuers today. Looking forward to seeing the NV DoA follow through with it’s suggestion of delivering horses directly to the advocates in the future. I will expect this act to be free from any fees. Too bad that can’t be the same for the BLM horses too. They should create a system of waiving any fee for a horse going to the rescues – surely they know the rescues are strapped for providing food, shelter, training and re-homing. I know they are watching the rescues and advocates scrambling for money to save the horses. May this be the year the madness ends!
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My comments would be censored.
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So when election time comes people should remember this and not vote the governor back in. What has he done for the state anyway? Let the people of Nevada know what a snake he is. Don’t spend your money in Las Vegas. Hit him in the pocket. Unless the rescues have the money to spend, these horses are lost and money will again go to the killers of the horses. You can all see what they do running up the prices of the horses thus siphoning money our of the rescues for the animals they do have to care for. And they’ll keep doing it until they deplete the resources. This is beyond disgusting.
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not only vote against Sandoval, but contribute dollars to his competitor and actually volunteer to do campaign work for his competitor.
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YOU> BRIAN SANDOVAL…. HAVE NO SOUL YOU LET THIS CONTINUE WITHOUT HEARING WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY? YOU CLOSE YOUR EARS TO THE PROBLEM AND LET OUR AMERICAN WILD OR DOMESTIC HORSES SUFFER AT THE HANDS OF MADMEN…YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOUR PART IN THIS…..WELL KARMA’S A BITCH AND YOU WILL ONE DAY GET YOURS? MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL? NOT
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I think the next election we need to kick him to the curb , he really hasn’t done anything for NV and the horse thing is just another thing to add to it . he is not Representing me a wild horse lover .
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No surprise here. Sandoval is NOT an advocate for the horses — he was a scheduled “guest speaker” at the original Scummit meeting in Las Vegas, but was a no show at the last minute, sending a rep from his office instead. It was speculated that he wanted to distance himself from Wallis, who had recently been accused of ethics violations and fraud and was under investigation.
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Altho I don’t live in NV, no question that those that do live in NV MUST vote Sandoval out of office. And, RT, we all have a lot of faith in you and you would probably be the best one to organize this….we ALL really need to start pounding the pavement with HUGE demonstrations, somewhere, anywhere, we need demonstrations like we had in the 60’s so this stupid government that refuses to pay us any attention will start paying attention….all the years of polite horse advocates have gotten us no where…..time to get down & dirty!!!
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It is the only way !~!!!!!! Sad but true Barbara !!!!!!
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Nevadans, I hope you start to look for an alternative to Governor Sandoval in furutre elections. He seems to be following the lead of Senator Reid and the anti-wild horse Democrats in the Senate—from what used to be the animal friendly party—I think we should request that they change their symbol—they are unworthy to use any symbol from the Equid family. Perhaps a a jackyl would be more appropriate.
We cannot look at what bills they sponsor. Every Democrat in Congress could pass a pro-horse bill now knowing full well that as soon as Harry Reid sees the worse horse, its already in file 13. We need to look at what bills have had committee hearings, what bills have been passed from committee into the chamber as a whole, and whether or not the bill passed. The bill or the number of bills sponsored is not the part that matters now, particularly with Senator Reid in charge of the Senate. What matters is which bill sponsors are willing to work the bill to get a hearing in committee, and persuade their colleagues to support the passage of the bill. We have sponsors of bills that everyone in Congress knows are not going to have a shot at passage with Reid in his position, so they are not even working the bills.
We need to go back to elections when everyone voted on election day except people in the military to prevent unions from importing voters and from soothsayers from raising the dead. My state had hunreds of 112 year-olds vote (they were the same as the 110 year-olds who voted the previous election cycle—unfortunately a lot of these folks do not have easily searchable birth certificates, so it is harder to prove that people who have died with their identying information are otherwise dead).
Recall Senator Harry Reid.
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Awesome Hoofhugs , i also think the Jackyl would be so appropriate………………………
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http://www.yubanet.com/regional/Nevada-Governor-39-s-Office-Flooded-with-Faxes-In-Protest-of-Sale-of-Wild-Horses-at-Slaughter-Auction.php
Nevada Governor’s Office Flooded with Faxes In Protest of Sale of Wild Horses at Slaughter Auction
Global Support Behind Rescue of 41 Mustangs Headed for Auction Today
Published on Jan 9, 2013 – 8:11:04 AM
By: American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC)
FALLON, NV, Jan. 9, 2013 – Later today, amidst heightened public outcry, the state of Nevada will put a group of 41 wild Nevada mustangs up for sale at a livestock auction in Fallon, NV frequented by kill buyers who purchase horses for slaughter.
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) announced today that, thanks to a global outpouring of support, it had raised the funds necessary to purchase the horses and save them from slaughter. AWHPC said that donations have arrived from citizens across the world, from South Africa to Europe, Canada and the U.S., enabling local advocacy groups to mount a lifesaving rescue effort for the horses.
Meanwhile, over the last five days, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval’s office has been flooded with over 12,000 faxes and letters from citizens outraged at the state’s capture and sale of wild horses at slaughter auctions.
“The powerful grassroots response to the plight of these 41 horses sends a clear message to every politician and government official engaged on the wild horse issue: Citizens across the world value Nevada’s wild mustangs and expect the government to protect them,” said Deniz Bolbol, communications director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign.
“This is an opportunity for the Governor to implement humane solutions that prevent these horses from going to slaughter auctions and to humanely manage them on the range where they belong,” she continued. “We look forward to working with the Governor and the State Agriculture Department on a plan that will benefit both wild horses and Nevada taxpayers.”
The horses are expected to be put up for bid at or after 3 p.m. today at the Nevada Livestock Marketing auction, 1025 Allen Road in Fallon.
Background
The Virginia Range herd roams the Virginia and Flowery Ranges and surrounding valleys outside Reno and near the historic mining town of Virginia City. Because they do not reside on federal land, but rather a combination of state, county and private land, they are not protected by the federal Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
Beginning last fall, the state Department of Agriculture began capturing wild horses from the Virginia Range and sending them to the livestock auction. The auction is frequented by kill buyers who purchase U.S horses and truck them to horse slaughter plants in Mexico and Canada. American citizens oppose horse slaughter by an overwhelming majority.
To date, local advocacy groups have rescued 99 wild horses from the slaughter auction, and are mobilizing again to rescue the 41 from the auction today.
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) is a coalition of more than 50 horse advocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come.
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……….. I wouldn’t eat horses, nor do I eat beef. I will not support the Cattlemen’s Association by buying or eating their beef while they impliment the removal and destruction of our wildhorses from public lands. Nor will I support the Elk and Mule Deer Hunter’s Foundations that also decry the value and importance of a national icon such as wildhorses, burros, and bison. I know that most all ranchers use horses in their vocation, but I also know that many many of them, wish the wildhorses dead and gone so there is more room for their millions of cattle on public lands. In more then twenty years of studying and observing wildhorses, I never find the wildhorses eating the same things as deer, elk, and privately owned cattle on our public lands; except for the grasses(that are also being pushed out by invasive cheat grass). Wildhorses, burros, and bison are not the problem; and we should demeand that privately owned livestock be remanded to remain within fenced private lands. If we all would boycott american beef, there would sure be a clamor among cattle ranchers that then might listen to our plea to leave our wildhorses alone…..
……..In all my years of field research of the wildhorses and all other wildlife juxtaposed against the cattle and beef industry and their millions of livestock on our public lands; I find that in most areas of Nevada and California, and Oregon, that because of the extreme conditions of our wild west here that wildhorses most often have a lessor longevity because of these extreme conditions, and rarely maintain ever growing populations. The growing wildhorse bone pile in my yard is proof that wildhorses die often, and usually at quite young an age……
…….I think wildhorses in Nevada would be less likely to cause and die in auto related collisions if Nevada DOT would put up wildlife barriers(fences) parralle to highway rights of way; as does California………
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I also am boycotting beef……something we all need to do until every cow is REMOVED from our public lands.
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Recall Senator Harry Reid, and send a message to the anti-wild horse coalition that the people want our wild horses protected.
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You Gov Sandoval are a FOOL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..
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He’s a FOOL alright!!! Because of his attitude and unwillingness to work with the wild horse advocates, he’s revealing his true self and this will come back to haunt him come election time.
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The governor of Nevada has GOT TO GO. I wish I lived there so I could promote another candidate, that is if there are any horses left. This is just evil.
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